Strike, Protectors

In response to local fears of rioting and vandalism by striking copper miners, Michigan governor Woodbridge Ferris assigned Michigan National Guard troops to the embattled northern mining district on July 24, 1913. Troops encamped throughout Houghton and Keweenaw County, ordered by Ferris to “protect the life and property of the employee along with the employer.” During their six-month stay in the Copper Country, the Michigan National Guard was not involved in a single fatality. On January 12, 1914, Governor Ferris ordered the last of the troops home, leaving the district in the hands of local law enforcement.